Implicit attenuation of subsequent emotion by cognitive activity

Abstract

The successful regulation of emotion relies heavily on executive function. Until very recently, however, the specific effects of executive function activity on other processes havereceived relatively little empirical attention. The link between executive function and emotional responses suggests that the activation of executive function may play an important role in the attenuation of emotional responses. We conducted twoexperiments to test the hypothesis that decrements in emotional responses following cognitive task performance might be caused, at least in part, by the activation of executive function. First, we sought to test whetherthe activation of executive function reducedemotional responsesimplicitly, without any volitional effort. Next, we sought to examine the link between prior activation of executivefunction and the attenuation of subsequent emotional responses, by comparing the effects of an executive-function-demanding task with the effects of a task that is equally effortful but does not engage executive function. We discuss our results in the context of the role of executive function in the attenuation of emotion. © Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2011.